By Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist Published Jun 22, 2015 at 4:16 PM

WMIL-FM 106.1’s Karen Dalessandro is among the best county music on-air radio personalities in the nation, and she will be inducted into the Country Radio Hall of Fame this week.

"The Hall Of Fame selection committee clearly did its homework here, evaluating a large and impressive slate of candidates before voting in these five deserving honorees for 2015," Hall Of Fame Chairman RJ Curtis said in a statement.

"The inductees for the Radio and On-Air categories represent many years of service and countless contributions to the Country radio/music industry, per the criteria for this distinction."

The County Radio Broadcasters chose five new inductees for class of 2015 that will be honored during opening ceremonies of County Radio Seminar in Nashville. Dalessandro will be there for the event and listeners can follow along with her journey page on WMIL’s website.

Dalessandro is one of four women to ever be inducted into the hall. Her radio career began as the midday host at WSDS-AM in Ypsilanti, Mich. Dalessandro next hosted mornings at WYCD and afternoons at WWWW in Detroit. In 1998, she moved to WMIL for mornings, where she currently co-hosts the "Karen, Scott & Radar" morning show. In 2001, the morning team was honored with a CMA Broadcast Personality of the Year award.

SUMMERFEST: Area media outlets have had a presence at Summerfest at various levels of engagement throughout the years. I can remember watching an entire newscast from the grounds back in the 1980s.

Fast-forward to now, and ABC, the network affiliate of WISN-TV Ch. 12, will bring ABC Summer Block Party to the lakefront. The presentation will preview new fall shows including "Blood & Oil" and "Quantico."

The Cinetransformer, a 91-seat mobile cinema housed in a 53-foot double-expandable trailer that replicates every facet of a movie theater experience, will also be used for a special preview of "The Muppets."

According to ABC, "The Muppets" return to primetime with a contemporary, documentary-style show. I’m guessing it is done in the same way "The Office" or "Parks and Recreation" were presented on NBC. 

"For the first time ever, a series will explore the Muppets’ personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work, as well as romances, breakups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires. This is a more adult Muppet show, for ‘kids’ of all ages," the network said in a release.

EMMY: Yorktel’s Media Services division was nominated for an Emmy Award last week for its production of the television program "American Veteran Center Honors." The program recognizes and honors American veterans of the United States Armed Forces.

The program includes tributes to the Doolittle Raiders, Tuskegee Airmen and Medal of Honor recipients. The stories of heroism were shared by film and television personalities Bret Baier, Lorraine Bracco, Megyn Kelly, Taylor Kitsch, Joe Mantegna, Pat Sajak, Gary Sinise, D.B. Sweeney, and Mark Valley.

The "American Veteran Center Honors" is nominated in the category of Public/Current/Community Affairs – Program/Special.  

Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist

Media is bombarding us everywhere.

Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.

The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.